1. Related Applications
This is the U.S. National Stage application of International Application No. PCT/GB2003/003762, filed Aug. 22, 2003, which relies for priority upon British Application No. 0219641.8, filed Aug. 23, 2002; British Application No. 0226867.0, filed Nov. 19, 2002; British Application No. 0303698.5, filed Feb. 18, 2003; British Application No. 0305597.7, filed Mar. 12, 2003; British Application No. 0308909.1, filed Apr. 17, 2003; and British Application No. 0310244.9, filed on May 3, 2003, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
2. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an outlet device for a container or vessel. More particularly, but not exclusively, this invention relates to improved nozzle arrangements that are adapted to be fitted to an outlet of a container or vessel.
3. Related Applications
Nozzle arrangements are commonly used to facilitate the dispensing of various fluids from containers or vessels. For instance, nozzle arrangements are commonly fitted to pressurised fluid-filled vessels or containers, such as a so-called “aerosol canister”, to provide a means by which fluid stored in the vessel or container can be dispensed. In addition, so-called pump and trigger-activated nozzle arrangements are also commonly used to enable the fluid contents of a non-pressurised vessel or container to be conveniently dispensed in response to the operation of the pump or trigger by an operator.
A typical nozzle arrangement comprises an inlet through which fluid accesses the nozzle arrangement, an outlet through which the fluid is dispensed into the external environment, and an internal fluid flow passageway through which fluid can flow from the inlet to the outlet. In addition, conventional nozzle arrangements comprise an actuator means, such as, for example, a manually operable pump or trigger. The operation of the actuator means causes fluid to flow from the container to which the arrangement is attached into the inlet of the arrangement, where it then flows along the fluid flow passageway to the outlet. After each use, it is usual for a proportion of the fluid from the container to remain within the nozzle arrangement. This can cause a number of problems. Firstly, the fluid product retained in the nozzle arrangement after use may dry out or harden and can result in a build up of residue within the passageway, which may ultimately lead to the blockage of the inlet, the outlet or the internal passageway. This can be a particularly problematical with certain fluid products such as, for example, a food product (such as cream, sauces etc.), a cosmetic or pharmaceutical cream or lotion, or an expandable product such as hair mousse, shaving foam etc. Secondly, there is also a tendency for certain fluid products that remain in the passageway to leak out of through the outlet of the nozzle arrangement over time. Leakage is especially prevalent when the fluid product being dispensed is an “expandable product”, such as, for example, shaving foam or hair mousse, because the proportion of the product remaining in the nozzle arrangement after use typically expands over time and this invariably causes a proportion of the fluid to leak out through the outlet. Alternatively, this leakage may simply occur as a result of gravity causing fluid to flow towards the outlet after use. Any fluid that does leak through the outlet over time can become adhered to the outlet or the surrounding vicinity creating a mess. The leaked fluid may also run down the side of the container or onto the surface on which the container is placed. A third problem is that fluid remaining in the nozzle arrangement, or which leaks out of the nozzle arrangement over time, may degrade or become contaminates with microbes.
One approach to solve this problem is to provide a cleanable nozzle arrangement. Examples of such nozzle arrangements are described in International Patent Publication Numbers WO 97/31841 and WO 01/89958. The nozzle arrangements disclosed in WO 97/31841 and WO 01/89958 are formed from two constituent parts, which can be split apart to enable the inside of the arrangement, particularly the fluid flow passageway and the outlet orifice, to be accessed for cleaning. Hence, any fluid product remaining in the nozzle arrangement after use or residue that has built up can be removed. However, it is neither practicable nor convenient to clean the nozzle arrangement after each use. For this reason, there is a desire to seek alternative approaches to alleviate this problem.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nozzle arrangement in which some or all of the aforementioned problems that are caused by fluid remaining in the nozzle arrangement after use are solved, or at least minimised.